‘Took my father to a clinic with a bullet wound… found my brother already admitted’: 2 of family among Haldwani dead

Talking to The Indian Express, Anas’s brother Mohammad Aman recounted what happened that day. He said both he and his father, Zahid Hussain, were working at a construction site before the chaos erupted. While Aman returned home, his father stayed back to complete some tasks.

“When I came to know about the violence, I called Anas to come back home as he too was outside. I came to know that one of my friends was stuck in the market, and I left to find her. When Anas found out, he followed me. Meanwhile, my father reached home, only to be informed that Anas hadn’t returned. He went to find him,” said Aman.

“My father fell victim to a stray bullet in the chest while standing near a dairy. Alerted by a neighbour, I found him lying injured on the street. I tried to lift him with the help of two others… and we carried him to a local clinic. When I reached, I found Anas already there with a bullet injury below his waist,” he said.

“Doctors asked me to take both of them to a hospital. But we could not arrange the means to do so, and they both died soon after. We finally carried them back to our house. After the post-mortem, on Friday night we buried them in the presence of the district administration. Only five people from our family were allowed to attend the final rites,” he said.

Javed, a cousin of Faheem Qureshi, claimed he was shot dead by his neighbours. “He was home when, around 7.30 pm, he noticed someone setting his vehicle on fire. He went out to check and when he objected, he was shot in the chest. While the attackers escaped, my family rushed Faheem to the hospital, where he was declared dead,” Javed said.

Faheem is survived by his mother, wife, and two young children.

Gauhar, who works as a hawker in the Banbhoolpura area, claimed that his son Aris (18) too died during the violence, but his name was not in the administration list as the family had taken him to a hospital in Bareilly.

“My son was working as a salesman at a garment shop around a kilometre from our house. On Thursday, when the violence started, I called him around 5.45 pm and asked him to come back. But he did not return. I called him again at 6.30 but there was no response. I decided to go find him… While searching, someone told me my son was lying at a chauraha. With the help of two others, I carried him home,” said Gauhar.

“Seeing the violence, we decided to take him to Bareilly, but he died on the way. We laid him to rest in Badaun… He was my elder son, my whole world,” said Gauhar.

District officials said they are looking into the circumstances around the deaths.